updated pics

I have a similar bed in my yard. I have a border of large rocks between sections. I am also renovating the area. Maybe I can take a photo later to show you. But anyway, a rock border looks good. You need fairly substantial rocks to hold the border. There are also brick border things and plastic border things you can buy and use, but I just happen to like the look of rocks, and I live in gravel pit country so there is no shortage of free rocks around. I picked up a bunch just a couple of weeks ago from a construction site.

There is a high probability that if you want to eat anything from the vegetable garden, it will have to be fenced in. That will be the separation. As for what to plant, if the idea is to reduce beds and bed maintenance, why not grass?

If you're concerned with how the bed looks relative to the overall yard, I think you need to create a plan showing how it fits with the overall yard and show pictures of same. (This would be done with overlapping pictures of a wide area, posted individually, not as a panorama. It automatically does not appeal to me to incorporate a vegetable garden with a landscape bed as these generally have quite different cultural requirements. And, it would look odd from a landscape perspective.

You have such a beautiful property that this vegetable bed deserves to be a potager. I don't know how active that forum is these days, but try posing the same question there and look through their archives. I'm sure you could do something unique and lovely. A rock border requires extra work when mowing, while a low boxwood border would not.

Yeah, if you don't want extra work, then just a standard cut edge for the outside of the bed. I was thinking the rocks for between the two areas of the bed. And yes, I immediately thought "potager" which is a mix of ornamental and edible plants. I have one in my front yard. But with critters around, you'll probably have to fight them off of the vegetables. I am merciless towards my local chipmunks, mice and bunnies. But out that far from the house you'll probably get groundhogs too, and deer.

I'd rethink the location of a vegetable garden, and fence it. My potager just has a few veggies for me to pop into salads or a canning mix.

Thanks for the replies everyone. Sorry for the delayed response, I was out of town for a few days. I kind of assumed I would get some feedback suggesting I move the garden. Unfortunately it's the only remaining spot that has built in irrigation. I was not really a fan of putting it there to begin with but the wife and kids really enjoy it. There may be room on the side of the house for it next year but I would need to remove some tree limbs to get more sunlight and run pipe for an additional sprinkler zone. I have attached some pictures of the rest of the yard as requested. I stood in center looking away from house and took pictures while turning clockwise.

Get a copy of Grant, Garden Design Illustrated from Amazon and look at that.

What exactly do the kids enjoy about the vegetable garden? The reason I'm wondering is you may want to go with some berry bearing shrubs for the partly shady part of the garden and do some of your veggies in pots on the patio in the sun. For example, cherry tomatoes are awesome in patio pots for fun snacking for the kids, and I've seen salad garden in all kinds of pots . . . I'd go with some blueberries and maybe lingonberries for near the trees, they are a more structural kind of edible plant as opposed to rows of carrots or something like that.

@Yardvaark The two large trees with stone borders are actually close to the edge of my property. The one large maple tree is at the rear of the bed in question and the other one is a 100' Dawn Redwood that separates the lawn area from the wooded/uncleared section of our yard (behind the swingset). The tree just behind it and to the right (1st picture) is the neighbor's.

@I Pinkmountain The kids love the whole process (except keeping the weeds out of course). The love picking the strawberries, tomatoes, and peppers. The only thing I care about growing are tomatoes. They are fantastic and far better than the tasteless ones from the store. Its not an extensive garden. We grow strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, basil, mint, and oregano.

Alright, here is my best attempt at drawing it on paper. This is pretty close to scale and each box represents 1/2 a foot.

KEY: "H" = Hostas, "HC" = Hardy Camelias, "Box" = Boxwood (Pyramid shape), "DL" = Daylillies.

The unlabeled circles don't currently exist but are part of my proposed plan to help hide the garden. I was thinking about enclosing a 12x12 area with landscape timbers or stones for the garden and planting a row of additional Camelias in front of it? Maybe a stone walkway to the garden (small squares bordering the straeberries)? Thoughts? Any reccomendations on the open area? My initial thought was a border of something smaller (2'-3') that flowers. I was thinking of maybe some hybrid peonies or hydrangeas. Then fill in the room behind by staggering taller shrubs. I'm open to anything really.

Sorry for the confusion. I was referring to how a plan would be helpful with giving feedback about the bed in the context of how it fits into the whole back yard. From my perspective, we are seeing a slew of parts, but there is not any way to see how things fit and flow with other things. It was a plan of the whole back yard that would be helpful. Insofar as looking at the plan of the single bed, it seems a mishmosh of plants with a LOT of empty space. It could look better if there was a distinct separation between the tree canopy and anything growing below it. Where this seems in conflict is with the large holly and the low hanging tree branches. Those low hanging branches should be removed. (Can't give you an overall idea of how much the canopy should come up without seeing a picture of the overall tree.) And/or, the holly should be trimmed lower. I suspect it is mainly a need for the tree canopy to be trimmed up. It would also help the veg. garden by allowing more light to reach it. I think I said earlier that the rock beds would be improved if they were enlarged so as to be more proportionate for such large trees they are figuratively containing. Then, split up the Hosta and FILL the rock circle beds solid with it. A LOW groundcover can fill in the rest of the bald space over to the garden.